Sandhurst offers its own degree – as it has too many graduates

THE British Army is filled with university graduates and needs to recruit more school leavers, the commandant of Sandhurst has said, as he revealed plans to offer degrees alongside officer training.

General Paul Nanson, commandant of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, said that 18-year-olds feel that they should go to university because it is the “done” thing, and often have not considered alternative options.

He said that when he was at Sandhurst, officer cadets were evenly split between university graduates and school leavers, but now the vast majority – around four fifths – arrive with a degree.

“You want to try and get youngsters in early and develop them yourself rather than [choosing from] an everincreasing pond of graduates,” said Gen Nanson.

“There are a number of people with very good degrees out there – but what you are looking for is character. That is one thing the army develops very well.”

Gen Nanson said that from September, school leavers who have been accepted for officer training at Sandhurst will be able to register for a BSC in Leadership and Strategic Studies, developed in partnership with the University of Reading, and can go on to complete a Masters degree. Officers will build up credits during their 12-month officer training at Sandhurst, which will make up a third of the degree. They can complete the remaining two thirds over a four-year period while they are a serving officer.

Gen Nanson, who joined the army from school and rose through the ranks, said that the new programme is aimed at “the youngster who says ‘I always wanted to join the army but I felt the pressure to get a degree’”.

He said: “We are trying to tap into another pool of talent. We need to get back into schools and get the message out. We need to get back into sixth forms to let people know that there are alternatives.”

Gen Nanson said that there is “no doubt” that degrees are viewed by 18-year-olds as prestigious, but added that there is a “movement” towards employers offering higher education opportunities to their employees.

“It has a lot to do with the fact that university is very expensive,” he said. “We have done some research – a lot of school leavers want to go to university. But over half said they would skip it if they knew they could get the same job and salary.”

John Wills, head of custom programmes at Henley Business School, University of Reading, said that he has been working with Sandhurst over the past 12 months to develop a bespoke course for officers.

“The majority of the course will be distance learning – meetings with tutors remotely, and using webinars or Skype calls,” he said. There would only be one or two exams, and most of the assessment would be written work.